Ragradia Sapphire: Slayers NEXT arc
by SailorStar9
Summary: The Slayers NEXT arc of the Ragradia Sapphire fic.
1. The Terror Of The Devil Zoamel Gustav!

SailorStar9: This is the start of a new arc. (Sighs) Guys and girls, will it _kill_ you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Basic Summary: The Slayers NEXT arc of the Ragradia Sapphire fic

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny. Heck, even the pairings aren't mine.

Prologue: Suddenly In A Pinch! The Terror Of The Devil Zoamel Gustav!

* * *

"A Seyruun sneak attack!" Martina exclaimed, having held Amelia hostage.

"It can't be!" Amelia gaped.

"Mega Brando!" Lina's blast destroyed the clock tower Amelia was held in. "I came to save you, Amelia."

"Who the hell are you?" King Xoana stammered.

"Though it was a little presumptuous to introduce myself this way," Lina grinned, "I am the beautiful young sorcery genius, Lina Inverse."

"Lina…" Aria blinked. "I think you blew Amelia up along with them."

"Are you all right, Amelia?" Lina hurried over.

"No, I'm not all right!" the Seyruun Princess snapped. "Lina, how could you do that?"

"Sorry, I guess it's been a while since I used my full power." Lina chuckled. "Besides, I was worried about you."

"That isn't an excuse!" Amelia retorted.

"Right." Aria sighed. "Amelia, don't move."

"Okay…" Amelia blinked. "Wow…" she breathed when Aria simply pressed her finger against the bronze bell around her and the said bell freezing instantly before shattering into icy dust.

"Anyway, I heard the whole story." Lina glared at two Xoana royalty. "Your evil scheme ends here."

"Get her!" King Xoana ordered.

"Sorry for the later introduction." Gourry started, taking out the troops with his sword. "But I'm Lina's guardian, Gourry Gabriev."

"Zelgadis!" Martina whined.

"Lina, Zelgadis is working for them." Amelia informed. "He even called me an enemy."

"It sure looks that way." Lina noted, Zelgadis drawing his sword.

"Sorry, but as long as my employers don't betray me, I can't break my contract with them." Zelgadis explained.

"That's quite an admirable profession ethic." Lina mused.

"Lina, I must kill you." Zelgadis declared.

"I won't do that if I were you." Aria warned, appearing behind the chimera via a puddle of water on the ground. "But I strongly suggest you drop your sword, lover." The Riptide trident was pressed against Zelgadis' neck. "You _really_ don't want me using the same 'Ice Water Prison' Ragradia used on Lei Magnus."

"I'm doing this so that I can regain my human form." Zelgadis explained. "In return for protecting them, I get the Book of Xoana."

"Oh, you mean the book Lina has in her right hand?" Aria asked amusedly.

"That's the Book of Xoana!" King Xoana exclaimed. "How did you get it?"

"When I snuck into the castle earlier, this accidentally fell out of the vault." Lina replied. "Didn't want to waste the chance, so I took it with me."

"Lina, you mean you didn't come because you were worried and wanted to save me?" Amelia gaped.

"I suppose that's one way to put it." Lina beamed. "The thing is, this book's of no use to Zelgadis. All that's written in it are ancient methods of making golems."

"So, in other words," Aria grinned, releasing her still shell-shocked captive. "Unless you want to research your distant relatives, lover, you've been punked."

"Well…" King Xoana stammered.

"I won't support your evil plans any longer." Zelgadis turned his blade on the king.

"That guy has the easiest behaviour pattern to predict." Gourry noted.

"He's getting away!" Amelia exclaimed, the king fleeing.

"After him!" Lina ordered.

* * *

"That doesn't sound good." Aria noted, as the ground rumbled.

"That's the ultimate weapon passed down by the Book of Xoana." King Xoana laughed. "Come forth, Orihalcon Golem!"

"What the heck is that?" Gourry gasped as the massive golem emerged from the castle.

"Is that what is written about in the Book of Xoana?" Lina gulped.

"This golem's body will reflect common spells and can withstand direct spells as well." Martina declared, in the cockpit.

"Awaken from your thousand year sleep, golem!" King Xoana declared.

"Father, leave this to me." Martina assured.

"I _knew_ we were missing someone!" Aria cursed.

"I thought she ran off before." Lina exclaimed. "So, that's where she went."

"Now, in the name of the monstrous Zoamelgustar, let's go!" Martina piloted the golem.

"I don't think she's got both oars in the water." Amelia sighed.

"You sure know how to pick your employers." Aria joked.

"Leave me alone." Zelgadis muttered.

"The monstrous Zoamelgustar?" Lina echoed. "I thought I knew most legends and folk tales pretty well, but I've never heard of him."

"I'm not surprised you haven't heard of him." Martine remarked. "The monstrous Zoamelgustar, is something I made up myself. Here I go!" opening the golem's chest to reveal a piston cannon, she destroyed a nearby mountain.

"Did you see that?" King Xoana laughed. "The power of our golem."

"Be thankful." Martina grinned. "I'll make you the first sacrifices to the monstrous Zoamelgustar. Prepare to die."

"Wait," Aria blinked. "How long has this golem been underground?"

"One thousand years." Lina replied. "Why?"

"So, correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't it have malfunctioned by now?" Aria pointed out. "See?" she pointed at the broken-down golem.

"When you think about it, it was passed down with the magic book." Lina nodded. "Meaning the golem is pretty darn old."

"You mean it doesn't work right, anymore?" Gourry sighed.

"A little help, please?" King Xoana begged.

"Are you just going to stand there watching?" Martina retorted. "Do something!"

"But what are we supposed to do?" Gourry asked.

"It's out of control." Lina pointed out, the generator started going berserk.

"And how are we supposed to stop it?" Amelia wondered.

"If common spells and direct attacks won't work on it…" Zelgadis reminded.

"Then you'll have to use an Uncommon spell." Lina winked.

"Yeah, I guess…" Amelia nodded.

"She won't…" Aria gaped, realizing Lina's intention. "Amelia, sound the alarms!"

"On it!" Amelia replied. "This is a Dragon Slave Alert!" she sounded the siren.

"All citizen, please evacuate as quickly as possible!" Gourry shouted.

"You should've expected this from Lina." Aria reminded, Zelgadis looking on unamused.

"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows! Buried in the flow of time, in thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness. Let all the fools who stand in our way be destroyed by the power you and I possess..." Lina chanted. "Dragon Slave!" she cast her spell.

"I _really_, really need to have a talk with her about restrain." Aria sighed, the spell levelling the entire Xoana kingdom.

* * *

"If they were lucky, they were saved." Lina nodded.

"You really think luck would have saved them from that just now?" Gourry sighed.

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Amelia mused. "At the very least, we definitely destroyed evil here."

"But how are you doing to report this to Phil?" Aria reminded.

"I can't go back to Seyruun like this!" Amelia wailed.

* * *

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.


	2. The Roguish Priest! His Name is Xellos!

SailorStar9: Anyway, prologue goes up. This is Chapter 1. To all my non-reviewing readers, I love you all! Will love you more if you review! *hugs all round!*

Disclaimers: Nothing here is mine, well, except the plot and the pairing.

Chapter 1: The Roguish Priest! His Name is Xellos!

* * *

"I told you I'm on a journey to find the Claire Bible, but," Zelgadis admitted, once the group made a pit-stop at a nearby inn. "And I made it clear that this is my own personal problem. But even so… would you please stop following and criticizing me? Are you even listening?" he roared amidst the sound of food gobbling.

"Wrong question, love." Aria reminded, swallowing her lettuce.

"Fine, either eat or talk." Zelgadis sighed.

"You dug into that one yourself." Aria grinned, stabbing a tomato slice as the others continue to eat.

"My bad." Zelgadis muttered. "Please stop eating and listen."

"Even if you say that, do you expect us to say 'Sure, whatever.' Like we're strangers or something?" Lina snapped.

"You're being so distant, Zelgadis." Amelia chided. "And after we're all finally reunited like this, too. We'll do whatever we can to help."

"You all just consider me your personal diversion." Zelgadis pointed out.

"Cut that out." Lina chided. "It's not like that."

"Yeah, of course not." Amelia agreed.

"Very well," Zelgadis relented. "I just ask you to stay out of my way. Because I'm risking everything on finding the Claire Bible, a mysterious book of sorcery which supposedly contains the deepest secrets of the sorcery and demons of the netherworld."

"And what will you do when you find it?" Amelia wondered.

"Now, look…" Zelgadis muttered, facefaulting off the table, Aria looking on in worry.

"Zel wants to use the spells in the Claire Bible to turn himself from a chimera back into a normal human." Lina explained.

"You still want to do that?" Amelia exclaimed. "But you're so cool the way you are now."

"Well, I don't like it." Zelgadis retorted.

"Considering he says he hates it," Lina pointed out.

"But why, Zelgadis?" Amelia pressed. "Even if you look different, our friendship is eternal. Besides that…"

"With friends like this…" Zelgadis sighed.

"Aspirin?" Aria offered him her mediation bottle.

"Amelia, can't you be a little more subtle?" Lina chided. "How he has skin like a rock and hair that's like wire."

"I never said that much." Amelia retorted, Aria giving her other half a fair bit of leeway when the chimera slammed his head on the table. "Besides, you should never give judge people by appearances."

"Enough, I'm going to bed." Zelgadis straightened himself.

"Think we teased him a little too much?" Lina wondered.

"We were teasing him?" Amelia gaped.

"Yare, yare." Aria shook her head. "Guess I'll have to calm him down later."

* * *

"You know Lina was just teasing, right?" Aria deathpanned, appearing via a water puddle on the floor of Zelgadis' room.

"Right…" the chimera muttered.

"And you, my dear." Aria chided. "Are too tense. Now," she kissed a pebble on his chin. "Don't we have lots of catching up to do?"

"What the…" Zelgadis was up in an instant upon hearing the explosion in the distance, later that night.

"What's the betting that's Lina's doing?" Aria joked.

"Sucker bet, Aria." Zelgadis smirked.

* * *

"Rain Cloud!" Aria doused the flames with an area spell. "I know you're there. Come on out!" she ordered, flickering an icicle at one of the high-rising wooden frames.

"My, my." Xellos applauded. "I'm quite impressed. So, it was worth my while to secretly follow you all." He landed before Lina. "I have a reason. I, too, am looking for the Claire Bible. If you don't mind, I was wondering if you might retrieve a manuscript of it from a bandit gang I've been following."

"Who are you?" Lina demanded.

"Have no worries." Xellos assured. "I'm not someone to suspect. As you can see, I am Xellos, the Mysterious Priest."

* * *

"Don't worry." Zelgadis assured, taking out the leader of the Fighting Dragon's Blood Macho Battlers with his sword. "I struck you with the back of the sword."

"But, isn't that sword double-bladed?" Aria reminded.

"Oops." Zelgadis smirked.

"You sure don't look apologetic." Aria sighed.

"Hey, Zel, Aria!" Lina shouted from the hole in the ceiling she and Xellos were hiding in. "You were after that thing right from the start, weren't you-? You acted like you were on your own and then just followed us in."

"Nothing personal." Zelgadis claimed the manuscript. "I never intended to involve in this." grabbing Aria, he took off. "Now then, no reason for us to stay here any longer. You…" he frowned when Xellos appeared before them.

"Forgive me, you need to let me check that out first." Xellos explained.

"Damn!" Zelgadis cursed when Xellos snatched the manuscript away. "Damn you! Give that back to me!"

"I'll give it to you now, once I know it's of no use to me." Xellos replied.

"Flare…" Zelgadis charged up his attack.

"Zel, wait!" Aria tried to stop him.

"Arrow!" the chimera fired his attack.

"Men…" Aria sighed, Xellos guarding the attack with a barrier.

"Such an impetuous person." Xellos chided.

"Xellos, wait." Lina protested. "You promised him he'd get the information he needs. Come back down here."

"Never mind, Lina." Zelgadis growled. "Nothing will stop me now…"

"He won't…" Aria gulped.

"Buday…" Zelgadis powered up another spell.

"Zel, stop!" Aria shouted.

"Wind!" Zelgadis blasted his attack anyway.

"Do we have to go through the 'Restrain' lesson _again_?" Aria deathpanned, her 'Water Lock' having deflected the falling debris.

"As long as I have this…" Zelgadis claimed the manuscript.

"Okay…" Aria blinked when the papers were burnt to a crisp. "Can't say I was expecting that."

"It seems that wasn't eh manuscript I'm looking for, after all." Xellos' voice echoed through the room. "I couldn't have you looking at those troubling pages now, so I took the liberty of destroying them. Don't worry. The information you wasn't in any of those pages."

"You think I can believe you?" Zelgadis snapped.

"Whether you believe me or not is up to you." Xellos replied. "I'm sure we'll meet again. And when we do, I'll have another job for you all."

"Xellos, what are you really after?" Lina demanded.

"That…" Xellos started. "Is a secret."

"Oh dear…" Aria went into full medic mode after Zelgadis passed out.

* * *

SailorStar9: Okay, this chapter is _finally_ down. Read and review folks.


	3. Being a Bodyguard isn't Easy!

SailorStar9: Anyway, Chapter 1 goes up. This is Chapter 2. To all my non-reviewing readers, I love you all! Will love you more if you review! *hugs all round!*

Disclaimers: Nothing here is mine, well, except the plot and the pairing.

Chapter 2: A Wonderful Business! Being a Bodyguard isn't Easy!

* * *

"Why do you two have to be such stubborn idiots?" Lina snapped.

"You get your way too much!" Amelia argued. "At least listen to our ideas for a change."

"Either way, in this case is all right." Gourry remarked. "So why not do it Lina's way?"

"No, Gourry." Zelgadis stood firm. "We're going to be perfectly clear this time. I personally don't care to follow Lina's ideas."

"Neither do I, normally." Gourry agreed. "But I think her idea is right in this case."

"No, that's not true!" Amelia retorted. "Lina's just saying whatever she wants."

"You guys are the ones screaming about what they want!" Lina glared back. "My decision is based on prior research."

"And I have done my own research in this matter." Zelgadis remarked.

"Yeah, the food Atlas City is most famous for is…" Amelia agreed.

"Nyo-Heron's Roast Beef!" Lina cut in.

"The Nyara-Nyara's Hot Pot!" Amelia fired back.

"I'd go for Nyo-Heron." Gourry mused.

"No, Nyara-Nyara." Zelgadis corrected.

"Nyo-Heron!" Lina glared.

"It has to be Nyara-Nyara!" Amelia refused to back down.

"Aria!" the two girls turned to the silent water mage.

"Don't drag me into this." Aria muttered, dry-swallowing yet another aspirin tablet. "Guess he knows I'm here already." She sighed, when a series of coordinated footsteps were heard marching towards the group.

"Brigadier General!" the Lance Corporal leading the contingent saluted.

"Did my father send you?" Aria addressed the Lance Corporal.

"I bring word from the Chief of the Penal Council of the Guild." The Lance Corporal reported. "He requests your presence."

"Not even half an hour in Atlas City…" Aria shook her head. "I understand, Lance Corporal." She returned the salute.

"Well…" Lina blinked when the contingent led Aria off. "That was unexpected. I never knew Aria's dad was the Penal Council Chief."

* * *

"Chief." Aria, who was now decked in her military uniform, saluted her father who was sitting behind his desk.

"Brigadier General." The middle-aged man greeted his daughter.

"Recalling me back at a time like this," Aria stated. "I presume this isn't a social call."

"Correct, as always." David Hayter nodded. "You see…" he rested his head on his crossed fingers. "The two contenders who are in the running for the Guild Chairman's position, Damia and Tarimu… we have sources informing us of their… less than congenial transactions. But with no proof, we can't convict them."

"I understand." Aria saluted. "You want my team to find the proof you need in their mansions."

"Very good." David nodded. "Consider the CSI team reactivated. Here's the search warrant."

* * *

"Damia-sama!" Karuas ran into the office. "The CSI from the Penal Council are here!"

* * *

In Tarimu's mansion, Aria's second-in-command had also issued the search warrant.

* * *

"Madam!" Major Kaji informed. "First Lieutenant Meryl and Second Lieutenant Misato found something in the basement you might want to see."

"Condone off the area!" Aria instructed, having her subordinates seal off the basement that contained the summoning circle, Aria's second-in-command doing the same for the summoning circle in Tarimu's basement.

* * *

"I had nothing to do with the summoning circle!" Damia protested as he and Tarimu were carted off. "It's his doing!"

"Lemme go!" Tarimu demanded. "It wasn't me! He did it!"

"They each figured they could frame the other by having the summoning circles appear in the other's mansion." Aria read from the report her second-in-command, Yui gave her. "Tarimu and Damia, the both of you are under arrest for bribery and illegal experimentation. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do _will_ be used against you in the court of law. Boys, take them away."

"Yes, madam!" the arresting officers saluted.

"It's wasn't me!" Tarimu and Damia wailed.

"It looks like they'll be expelled from the Sorcerer's Guild." Amelia remarked.

"But if it wasn't either of those two…" Lina mused.

"Something's afoot in Atlas City." Zelgadis concluded.

"And we're mixed up in it." Lina agreed.

"I was thinking," Gourry voiced.

"That's rare, coming from you." Lina gaped. "What are you thinking about, Gourry?"

"What about our payment?" Gourry wondered.

"We haven't been paid yet!" Amelia panicked.

"Neither have we!" Lina exclaimed.

"And both the guys who hired the four of you are in prison." Aria pointed out. "Just be lucky I didn't arrest you lot for obstruction of investigation."

"Don't!" Lina whined. "Just let Tarimu go!" and ran after the imprisoned duo.

"Let Damia go!" Amelia followed suit.

"Yare, yare." Aria shook her head. "The two of you," she gave Gourry and Zelgadis the _look_. "Drag them back and tell them that if they want to see Tarimu and Damia, they'll have to do this _my_ way."

"Aria, you're plotting something…" Zelgadis warned.

"Perhaps." Aria smiled.

* * *

SailorStar9: Okay, this chapter is _finally_ down. Read and review folks.


End file.
